“Summer Hit Single” and “Cat Attack” by Dinosaur Pile-Up

As I’ve warned before, the ’90s revival is coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. This past year’s Pitchfork Music Festival featured flannel and plaid, and Portland’s Thermals including four ’90s covers in their set — “100 %” by Sonic Youth, “Basket Case” by Green Day, “Saints” by The Breeders, and “Verse Chorus Verse” by Nirvana. Yet, as predictable and unavoidable the ’90s revival may be, I don’t think any of us expected it to explode in Leeds, England, the home of Dinosaur Pile-Up. Their latest EP, the ambitiously titled, The Most Powerful E.P. in The Universe, hits that sweet spot of ’90s alt-rock, after Nirvana broke, before Limp Bizkit broke everything, and any number of bands mined that half grunge/half power pop rock radio sound for their 120 minutes of fame. The thick, ballsy, Foo Fighters-like jam “Summer Hit Single,” is almost perfect in its ’90s revivalism, missing only a Matt Pinfield introduction, while “Cat Attack,” follows more of the soft-loud-soft-loud pattern of The Pixies. It may be unwanted. It may be unavoidable. It may be troubling to those who spent their hard earned money on flannels and Doc Martins the first time around, but as long as the revival is led by ragged rockers like, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and not a re-united Creed, you can count me in.

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